Micah had always known his big brother was different. Growing up in the Kentucky mountains, Joshua taught him how to hunt, how to fight, how to survive when the old man was too drunk to care. Watching him move through their apartment building like he’d rehearsed this exact escape? That was something else entirely.

  The hallway felt wrong the moment they stepped out. Too quiet. Mrs. Henderson’s TV wasn’t blasting her soap operas, Mr. Kim’s baby wasn’t crying, and even the building’s usual groans and settling sounds had gone silent, like the whole place was holding its breath.

  “Stay close,” Joshua said, adjusting his pack. “And keep that sledgehammer ready.”

  Micah hefted the weapon, its weight already familiar in his hands. The notification from earlier still floated at the edge of his vision, pulsing softly. Warrior Class Selected. He’d chosen it without hesitation, some instinct telling him he’d need strength more than magic in whatever came next.

  They made it to the stairwell without incident. Joshua paused at the door, listening. When nothing emerged, he eased it open and peered down the concrete shaft.

  “Clear,” he whispered. “But we move fast. These things…” He stopped himself. “Just stay alert.”

  These things. Like Joshua already knew what they’d face. Micah wanted to press, to demand answers, but the look on his brother’s face killed the questions before they formed. This was survival mode, and in survival mode, you listened to Joshua without question.

  They descended two flights before the first one found them.

  It came from below, scrambling up the stairs with a speed that shouldn’t have been possible. What might have once been Mrs. Chen’s tabby cat now moved with predatory grace, its fur matted with something dark and wet. The eyes that fixed on them glowed with a sickly green light, and when it opened its mouth, the teeth were wrong; too long, too sharp, arranged in rows like a shark’s maw.

  “Mana Corruption,” Joshua said, the word slipping out before he could stop it.

  “What?”

  But Joshua was already moving, drawing the blade from his pack. The cheap metal caught the emergency lighting as he positioned himself between Micah and the creature.

  “It’s drawn to the strongest mana source it can find.” His voice was steady, clinical. “Right now, that’s us.”

  The corrupted cat launched itself up the stairs with impossible speed. Joshua met it halfway, his blade finding the creature’s skull with surgical precision. It dissolved almost instantly, leaving behind a small pile of ash.

  Micah stared at the spot where it had been. “How did you know what that was?”

  Joshua wiped the blade clean, already moving toward the next flight. “Lucky guess. Come on, we need to keep moving.”

  But it hadn’t sounded like a guess. It sounded like certainty.

  They made it down two more floors before the next one found them. This time it was what might have been a pigeon, blown up to the size of a turkey and covered in black scales instead of feathers. It came at them from above, diving down the center of the stairwell with wings that made sounds like breaking bones.

  “Micah!” Joshua shouted.

  Micah moved without thinking. The sledgehammer connected with the bird-thing’s center mass with a satisfying crunch. The two-handed grip gave him leverage he hadn’t expected, and the creature slammed into the wall hard enough to crack the concrete. It tried to rise, wings flapping weakly, but he brought the hammer down again.

  The rush of completing his first kill was immediate and disturbing. Not just satisfaction; actual energy flowing through him, like he’d plugged into some cosmic battery.

  Experience Gained: 15 XP

  Progress to Level 2: 15/100

  “Good,” Joshua said, and his approval meant more than Micah wanted to admit. “You’re a natural.”

  The words should have felt like praise. Instead, they settled in his gut like lead. Looking at Joshua’s face, he saw something that chilled him more than the corrupted animals, pride, but not surprise. Like he’d expected this exact response.

  “J,” he said as they continued down the stairs, stepping carefully around dissolved remains. “How do you know all this? About the corruption, about the weapons, about…”

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  “Later.” Joshua’s voice was gentler than before. “When we’re safe. I promise I’ll explain everything.”

  The exit to the first floor was blocked. Something large had torn through the door from the outside, leaving twisted metal and chunks of concrete scattered across the landing. Through the gap, Micah could see the apartment building’s lobby, and it looked like a war zone. The front windows were completely gone, and shadows moved between overturned furniture.

  “Emergency exit,” Joshua said, leading him toward a door Micah had never noticed before. “Connects to the parking garage.”

  The garage was a maze of shadows and echoing sounds. Every footstep seemed to carry farther than it should, and the smell of motor oil mixed with something organic and wrong made Micah’s stomach turn.

  “There,” Joshua pointed to a beat-up Honda Civic near the back. “That’s Mrs. Patterson’s car. She always leaves the keys in the visor.”

  “How do you,” Micah started, then shook his head. “Never mind.”

  They’d made it halfway across the garage when the thing dropped from the ceiling.

  It landed between them and the car with a wet, meaty sound. Bigger than the others, this one might have been a dog once; maybe a rottweiler or a pit bull. Now it was a nightmare of exposed muscle and bone, its skull split open to reveal rows of teeth growing from what should have been brain matter.

  Level 3 Corrupted Hound

  Elite Monster

  The notification appeared unbidden, and Micah felt his blood run cold. If the cat had been level one, and this thing was level three...

  “Back up,” Joshua said, his voice tight. “Slowly.”

  But the hound was already moving. It lunged at Joshua with terrifying speed, jaws wide enough to take his head off. Joshua rolled left, his blade coming up in a defensive arc that caught the creature across its exposed ribs. Black ichor sprayed across the concrete, but the hound barely seemed to notice.

  It spun toward Micah instead.

  Time seemed to slow. The hound’s muscles bunched, preparing to spring. Micah raised the sledgehammer, knowing he wouldn’t be fast enough, wouldn’t be strong enough…

  Joshua was there.

  He’d thrown himself between them, taking the impact of the hound’s charge on his shoulder. They went down in a tangle of limbs and teeth, rolling across the oil-stained concrete. The blade flew from Joshua’s hand, skittering under a nearby car.

  “No!” Micah charged forward, hammer raised.

  The hound’s jaws were inches from Joshua’s throat when Micah brought the hammer down on its spine. The crack echoed through the garage like a gunshot. The creature howled, a sound that made Micah’s teeth ache, and rounded on him.

  Joshua kicked out, catching the hound in its damaged spine. It stumbled, giving him time to scramble to his feet. He dove for his blade while Micah swung again, this time catching the creature across what remained of its skull.

  Together, they pressed the attack. Joshua’s blade found gaps in the creature’s armor of exposed bone while Micah’s hammer crushed anything that got too close. It was brutal, messy work, and by the time the hound finally dissolved into ash, both brothers were covered in black ichor and breathing hard.

  Experience Gained: 75 XP

  Progress to Level 2: 90/100

  Achievement Unlocked: Elite Slayer

  Bonus: +2 Strength

  Micah stared at the notification, then at his brother. Joshua was checking himself for injuries, his movements methodical despite the adrenaline still coursing through them.

  “You saved me,” Micah said quietly.

  Joshua looked up, meeting his eyes. “Of course I did. You’re my brother.”

  “You threw yourself at that thing without hesitating.”

  “Micah…”

  “No.” He shook his head. “You knew. You knew exactly what it was, how dangerous it was, and you still put yourself between me and it.” He paused. “Just like you knew about the corruption, about where to go, about…” The pieces clicked together suddenly. “You’ve done this before. Haven’t you?”

  Joshua was silent for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nodded.

  “How?” Micah’s voice cracked. “How is that possible?”

  “Mrs. Patterson’s car,” Joshua said instead of answering. “We need to move.”

  “J!”

  “I know.” Joshua placed a hand on his shoulder. “I know you have questions. I know this doesn’t make sense. But right now, we need to survive. Can you trust me for just a little longer?”

  Micah wanted to demand answers. Wanted to shake his brother until the truth spilled out. But looking into Joshua’s eyes, he saw something he’d rarely seen there before, vulnerability. And underneath it, exhaustion so deep it made his own bones ache in sympathy.

  “Okay,” he said finally. “But when we’re safe? You tell me everything.”

  “Everything,” Joshua agreed. “I promise.”

  They made it to the Honda without further incident. True to Joshua’s word, the keys were tucked into the visor. As his brother started the engine, Micah caught sight of their reflection in the rearview mirror. Two young men, barely out of their teens, covered in the remains of creatures that shouldn’t exist.

  The world outside the garage was worse than anything Micah had imagined. The sky had darkened to the color of old bruises, and the streets were chaos. People ran screaming past abandoned cars while things that had once been animals stalked them from the shadows. In the distance, something massive moved between buildings, its silhouette too large to process.

  Joshua didn’t hesitate. He threw the car into gear and pulled out of the garage, heading away from the worst of the chaos with the certainty of someone who knew exactly where to go.

  “Hardware store,” he said, anticipating Micah’s question. “We need better weapons. Real weapons.”

  Micah nodded, gripping the door handle as Joshua navigated through the madness. Around them, Louisville was transforming into a nightmare, the familiar streets becoming alien under the crimson sky.

  But despite the terror, despite the questions burning in his mind, Micah felt something else too. His brother, his strange, secretive and somehow-prepared brother, had a plan. And for the first time since the notifications appeared, Micah felt a flicker of hope.

  They were going to survive this. Whatever “this” was.

  J would make sure of it.